Advanced Technical Drawing for Architecture
STEP-BY-STEP
Commercial Electrical Plans - The Basics

STEP 1

Begin by setting up 3 new LAYERS:
OUTLETS
SWITCHES
FIXTURES

Keep your symbols organized, it would also benefit the student to break the fixtures into even more layers. For example:
FIXTURES - Parking Lot
FIXTURES - Front Entry
FIXTURES - Dining Area

This will allow you to isolate the lights in single rooms or areas for individual renderings in Artlantis.


STEP 2
OUTLETS
Start by placing outlets in obvious locations. Make sure the wall is suitable for a typical duplex outlet, and when needed, add floor outlets or quad outlets. Heavy power needs will require 220 volt outlets, and exterior outlets would need to be waterproof.

Standard outlets can be found in the object menu under 16 Electrical > Electric Symbols > Basic Electrical Items.

Make sure to put the outlets in the outlet layer.


STEP 3
SWITCHES
Next place switches to control your fixtures is required locations. Just inside the doorway is advisable. Single pole switches operate one fixture. Triple pole switches operate the same light from two different locations (top of the stairs and the bottom for example). Larger rooms will sometimes require a switch inside the doors at both ends.

Put switches where they are safe.
In most cases, clients and customers should not be able to turn the lights off at their leisure.

Some buildings are completly controlled from a single room. One person enters in the morning and can power up the whole facility from one location.

STEP 4
FIXTURES
Lighting up rooms, entry ways, parking lots or hallways requires the use of the Lamp Tool. This where you will find the symbols to use for light sources.
Lights should fall into one of two categories:
General Lighting
(flourescent overhead lights, recessed overhead lights)
Task Lighting
(desk lamps, over counter lights, emergency lights)

Make sure every room has some sort of light fixture inside.
Switches to control these lights should be located properly.
A Control Line should connect all light fixtures with their operating switch or switches.



Use the
Control Lines are simply SPLINE hidden lines connecting fixtures or outlets to their switches.

[Updated: 5/19/08 ]